A Canadian In America
by offbeat musician
Summary: A young, slightly crazy Canadian teenage girl moves in with the X-Men, how will they ever survive? WIP
1. In Which We Meet The Main Character

Disclaimer: I only own so far.a flute and piccolo, many music and fantasy books, CDs, a backpack full of notes and numerous stuffed animals and my OCs. Note that I did not include any other recognizable things, I wish I did, but I don't. SO PLEASE DON'T SUE!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
____________________________________________________________________________ ___________  
  
Chapter 1: In Which We Meet the Main Character  
  
In a back alley of downtown Calgary, behind a fancy restaurant, the lid to a garbage can lifts. Quietly, the lid is rested against the edge of the garbage can. The garbage in the can start to shift, as somebody covered in a hoodie with the hood pulled over their face and gloves on their hands, rummages through the garbage can, searching for scraps of food to eat, evidenced by the increased annoyed mumblings as the person could not find anything to ease the pain in their stomach. Finally, the garbage stilled, and the person rocks back on their heels and sighed in disgust, "Geez, the high powered bureaucrat on their power lunches were hungry today, there's nothing left in this garbage except trash." The female voice was cut off as an angry waiter burst out of the side door and started screaming at her, "Damn you vagrant, get away from their you filthy scum, go find somewhere else to eat!"  
  
The bundle of clothing that was the girl stumbled back in shock, the hood falling away to reveal. nothing. The homeless girl had no visible head. The waiters' angry face grew contorted with disgust and if possible, with even more anger. "Get out you damn mutie scum! Go on, get out of hear before I call the police on you!"  
  
The girl pulled up her hood again and scuttled away, her ducking the projectiles that the waiter was hurling at her. Finally reaching safety, she sank against a wall wrapping her arms around her to protect herself from the cold that was sinking into her bones, because even though it was late May, the nights were still cold in Calgary, especially if you have no place to go.  
  
"Well Liz, you certainly have yourself in a fix this time, you haven't eaten in 2 days and you still haven't found a place to sleep." She mumbled to herself in disgust as she started to prepare herself to accept that she had to spend another night on the street, "The shelters are all full by now and so are the best sleeping places, not that they would let you in anyway, your genes not being "pure" enough for them." She laughed in disgust as she drifted off to sleep, with the final, muttered words of, "Better luck tomorrow I guess."  
  
TBC  
  
A/N: So whaddya think. Please let me know as this is one of my first fanfictions and I really want the input. The next chapter will be up ASAP as I am on a roll tonight! 


	2. In Which Scott Gets A Surprise

A/N: This is my second chapter today, and hopefully longer than the other one. As usual, please read and respond. I also forgot to mention that all flames will be used to assist my pet fire lizard in roasting marshmallows and chestnuts.  
  
Disclaimer: See chapter 1 and for all future Disclaimers, see chapter 1, as I will not say it again!!! ____________________________________________________________________________  
  
Chapter 2: In Which Scott Gets A Surprise  
  
The day was already well into its beginnings when Liz finally woke up. She got up and stretched, cursing at the circumstances that caused her to live outdoors.  
  
She shook her head, clearing the last traces of sleep from her head and began to stretch out her muscles, preparing for what she was about to do. "Okay Liz, you know you have to do this, it's a matter of eating, or going without food for the 2nd day in a row. Now, do you have any last words? Yeah, I really wish I didn't have to do this." Liz began to strip of her clothing, revealing that not only her head was invisible, but so was the rest of her.  
  
Now fully invisible, it seemed like everything she moved floated through the air, so to the surprise of a drunken man, stumbling home after being out all night, and passed out all morning, that he saw Liz's clothing floating through the air and being tucked behind a fire escape. He shook his head in amazement and looked at the package resting so innocently in his hand, inconspicuously wrapped in brown paper and shook his head, twisting the top off and taking another swig of liquor.  
  
*************  
  
It was 12:30 when Liz reached Eu Claire Mall's courtyard and it was total chaos as the tourists, busksers and businessmen were hurrying around to where they had to be, it was a simple matter for Liz weave her way through the crowds, looking for a likely target. Ignoring the children and young parents, because she needed to eat, not cause too much unhappiness, she spotted her first target. There was a short man with bristly sideburns and hair wearing a flannel shirt, blue jeans and cowboy boots standing next to a tall, fashionably clothed, lady with long red hair and a man, dressed like a prep, wearing of all things, a red visor. They were all obviously arguing over which I-Max movie they wanted to watch, finally, the shorter man through his hands in the air and left. Liz was happy, she did not want to have to deal with him anyway, his jeans were too tight for her to lift his wallet and not have him notice, she may be a master pickpocket, but she was a long way from being a master thief. She decided to target the yuppie, she figured that if he had enough to buy such stupid and expensive eyewear, he certainly wouldn't miss a couple of bucks.  
  
She crept closer, avoiding the milling crowds. Finally, she was close enough to reach his back pocket, a huge bulge marking where he kept his wallet. Slipping her hand carefully into his pocket, she carefully inched it out, now was the time to be careful, because this was the spot where most beginners made their mistakes. All too soon, the wallet was in her hands and she was slipping away, crouched close to the ground, so the wallet would not be noticed floating away in mid air. Once she was free of the crowd, she started running like the very hounds of heck were after her, to where she had left her clothing.  
  
*************  
  
About 5 minutes after Liz had picket the man's pocket, he and the lady had finally agreed on which movie they wanted to see, they went and order tickets, but when the man reached into his back pocket, his wallet was gone. Shocked, he started to pat himself down, searching for the missing item to no avail, it was gone. Now frantic, he turned to his wife, "Jean, did I bring my wallet with me today?"  
  
She replied, "Yes you did dear, why is something wrong?"  
  
Scott turned to the ticket booth agent and said, "I am very sorry ma'am, but we have changed our minds about the movie tickets." Jean started to protest, but Scott took her firmly by the arm explaining, "Jean, my wallet's missing, I had it just a minute ago, when I bought those hotdogs, but now it's gone.  
  
"Is there any chance that it is in one of your pockets and you forgot that you moved it there?"  
  
"No, I always leave it in my back pocket, besides I never forget anything."  
  
"You mean like anniversaries or birthdays?"  
  
"That's different, you know I never leave anything anywhere!"  
  
Jean was now worried and started to list places where it might be, offered to help him find it, and they retraced all of their steps, but the wallet still remained missing.  
  
The short, hairy man had been watching from the food court in amusement and now finally sauntered up to Jean saying, "Missing something Jeanie?"  
  
"No, I'm not Logan, but Scott's lost his wallet."  
  
Logan looked amazed, then very quickly amused and said, "Scooter's lost his wallet!" he turned to Scott turning sarcastic, "Let me guess, you kept it safe in the back pocket of your pants."  
  
Scott replied, affronted, "But of course, there is no other safe place to keep it."  
  
Stepping closer to Scott, Logan inhaled deeply and thoughtfully several times. Scott looked confused, Jean was confused and then realized what Logan, really Wolverine of the X-Men, was doing.  
  
Suddenly a grin appeared over Logan's face as he said wryly, "Yep Scooter, just as I thought, your pocket was picked."  
  
Scott looked worried, "Jean, that wallet, it had all of the information for the institute in there."  
  
Logan was once again, amazed. Stepping up to Scott, he reached up to the taller man's shirt collar and yanked his face down to an even level. His voice, now softly dangerous and rising, "You kept, all of that very important, Super-secret INFORMATION IN YOUR BACK POCKET WHERE ANY COMMON THIEF COULD GET THEIR HANDS ON IT!?"  
  
Logan whirled around, started sniffing and, obviously finding what he was looking for, started stalking away, following something only his nose could sense. Jean followed, leaving Scott behind, obviously baffled to what they were doing. Logan turned around, "Well are you coming or not? The trail is already getting cold with all of these people walking around."  
  
Scott finally realized what Logan and Jean were up to, smacked himself mentally in the head and ran to catch up. "Right, let's find that pickpocket." He said like he knew what he was doing all the time and he was just waiting for the others to telepathically pick the information up from his head. Jean and Logan just shook their heads and waited for him to catch up.  
  
TBC 


	3. In Which A Thief Is Caught

A/N: I am extremely about the short chapters, but I have trouble creating long chapters that flow properly, so it is easier for me to have short chapters that (in my mind anyway) flow and don't get stuck, than chapters that are so long that readers get bored halfway through.Anyway.with that said, on with the show!  
  
Chapter 3: In Which a Thief is Caught  
  
Liz reached the fire escape where she had left her clothes behind and started pulling them on, first making sure no one was around to see the amazing sight of clothes floating around and being buckled, zipped onto a body that was not there.  
  
That job done, she pulled out the wallet she had stolen and felt extremely guilty about what she had done. "Yeah, sure," she thought, "I am hungry, but do I really deserve to eat with stolen money?"  
  
A street walker, hearing her conversation to herself came up behind her and said, "Girl, that conscious of yours is going to get you killed someday.you need the food, from the appearances of that wallet, the man had more than enough to spare. Go, get something to eat, please, you are too skinny as it is already."  
  
"Yeah, I guess you are right. I just really hate doing this type of things to eat." Liz sighed and started to walk out onto the main strip of the downtown core, first making sure her clothing covered all of her.  
  
****  
  
Half an hour later, she walked back into the alley, carrying a plastic grocery bag and dragging a large cardboard box that she had found in an alley on her way back. Positioning the box underneath the fire escape where it would be semi-sheltered from the elements, she crawled inside and opened the bag, revealing a large jar of peanut butter, a bunch of bananas, sliced bread, bottled water, a pad of paper and a pencil; all the cheapest that she could find.  
  
Unknown to her, 3 people watched her pull out the pad of paper and pencil and start scribbling a note onto it. Obviously satisfied by what she had written, she folded the note up and, pulling out Scott's wallet, tucked it inside.  
  
Much to Jean's surprise, Logan had to wrap his arms and lift Scott off the ground in order to stop him from going and confronting the person holding his wallet right then and there. "Scott, maybe we should just leave the person alone, they only have your wallet, and they wouldn't know what to make of the information anyway. Just leave the poor guy alone."  
  
"But they have my wallet!!!" Scott shouted.  
  
Startled, Liz looked up and saw the angry man standing there and recognized him as the one she stole the wallet from and the other two people standing with him, the shorter man obviously trying to restrain the taller from chasing after her right there. She dropped the wallet, turned, pulled off her shoes and ran straight towards a dead end, blocked off by a tall wall. She crouched down and to the 3 X-Men's surprise, jumped straight up, her hands and feet hitting the wall and sticking, allowing her to crawl up and over the wall.  
  
Scott, who managed to tear away from the arms that held him and started to chase after her stopped in amazement at her deed, then pounded the wall in frustration. Jean came up behind him and gently laid a hand on his arm saying, "Calm down Scott, its only money, and not a lot at that either, we always have more."  
  
"But he doesn't." Logan interrupted gruffly, his voice thick with emotion.  
  
Shaken by the amount of sadness and despair in the normally angry and gruff man's voice. Jean looked up and saw him emerging from the cardboard box where Liz had been hiding, holding Scott's wallet. He continued, "He didn't take all of your money Scooter, only enough to buy himself some food so that he didn't have to go hungry again tonight." He held up a piece of paper in his other hand, "He left a note," now almost pleading, "He's just a kid Scott, barely 18 years old, he's been living on the streets since October, and he couldn't stand being hungry again tonight, so he stole your wallet in order to eat. 15 dollars, Scott, just 15 dollars so he didn't have to go hungry again for a while."  
  
Jean emerged from the box, holding the bag full of food that Liz had bought. "He didn't waste it either, he bought good food, not junk, and in bulk too, enough for a week, at least."  
  
Scott stood there helplessly, hands clenched at his sides. "Oh God, what have I done?" defensive now, "How was I supposed to know he was starving and not just some punk out for a lark. Besides, aren't there shelters for them to go to to get food?"  
  
"Not if you're a mutant.didn't you see his getaway? He jumped over half way up a 20 foot wall, then stuck to and climbed the rest of the way over. Do you really think humans would let such a person into their shelters? Didn't you see the way he was clothed? Not an inch of skin was showing. He probably has a very different appearance from normal humans." Jean continued, "Besides, it's too late to do anything about it now, he's gone, and I couldn't get a bead on his mind either. Let's go back to the hotel room, we are leaving tomorrow, let's just relax and enjoy the rest of the day."  
  
Scott and Jean turned and left. Leaving Logan standing in the alley, hands stuffed helplessly into his pockets. Pulling out his wallet, he took out all of the money he had in it and going next to the cardboard box, stopped, putting the money back into his pocket, his mind decided to what he was going to do. "Until tonight, good luck kid, you're going to need it." Then he turned and left.  
  
*****  
  
Later that night, back at the hotel room, in bed, Scott was tossing and turning in bed, he just couldn't get the image of that boy out of his head. Stealing in order to survive, he just couldn't imagine it. Finally, at 11:30pm, he quietly climbed out of bed, dressed in dark clothes and scribbled a note for Jean. He tiptoed out of the room and silently closed the door behind him.  
  
His mind made up now, he walked more quickly and took the elevator down to the lobby. As he started to walk out the hotel's entrance a voice came from behind him, "Couldn't get him out of your mind too eh Scooter?"  
  
Scott jumped and turned around, seeing Logan leaning against a wall, already wearing dark clothing. Straightening, he walked past Scott and out the hotel entrance, shaking his head in amazement at the coincidence that they were thinking the same thing, he followed Logan off into the night, in search of the elusive thief.  
  
*****  
  
It was nearly 6 o'clock the next morning before the pickpocket made their next appearance. Scaling headfirst down the wall that he had only made his escape over just over 14 hours ago. Grinning, Scott and Logan looked at each other in triumph, hidden from sight behind a dumpster.  
  
They waited to make their move until the mutant to settled them self in the cardboard box. Hearing the scratching and scrabbling finally dying down, they stood up from their hiding place and approached the box. Peering in, they saw the mutant curled up into the corner, hugging himself in order to keep warm.  
  
Scott gently reached in and laid a hand on the bundle's shoulder. The body jolted and then scrabbled further back into the corner, ready to fight their way out. Scott pulled back, his arms raised defensively. Logan spoke, "Hey don't worry kid, we ain't here to hurt you, we saw what you did today, we want to help you."  
  
A voice, raspy with fear and effectively disguising any feminine/masculine traits it might have said, "But why should I trust you? I mean, I just stole from him a couple of hours ago." The hooded head jerked in Scott's direction.  
  
Logan extended a hand, "Because we're mutants too," extending the claws from the back of his hand.  
  
The bundle of clothing jumped, then cowered in fear, then, just as quickly, relaxed. "You're that Wolverine guy from the states aren't you?"  
  
Logan was shocked that she knew who he was, "Yeah, but."  
  
But Liz continued on, turning to Scott, "And you must be Cyclops."  
  
Now it was both of them staring at the sex-less bundle of clothing slack jawed in amazement.  
  
The bundle of clothing quickly crawled forward and emerged from the box, blinking at the light from the rising sun. Turning, the figure offered a hand saying, "In that case, I accept your help. Caliban told me just before he and the other Morlocks left Calgary that if I ever had a chance to go with one of the X-Men to accept because it would be the best thing for me. I'm Elizabeth Emily Watson and I am very pleased to meet you."  
  
Dumbly, they offered a hand and the suddenly cheerful and semi-hyper bundle of clothing enthusiastically shook them both. At the same time. Blinking, Logan just realized something, "Wait a minute, did you say your name was Elizabeth?"  
  
Liz responded, her head stuck back in the cardboard box, pulling various items out and into a waiting, rather battered backpack. "Yeah, but most people call me Liz, or even Gecko if you want. It comes from me being able to stick to surfaces."  
  
"That means you're a girl." Scott stuttered.  
  
"Well, yeah, Sherlock, I guess it does." Liz backed out of the box, turned and continued, insecure, "That isn't a problem is it?"  
  
"No, but, you see, we kind of thought that you were a boy, from the way you were dressed and acted." Scott responded.  
  
"People think that a lot. I just kind of encourage it a bit." Liz replied, finished adjusting the straps on the backpack, she turned and started skipping down the alley, towards the entrance. Turning and seeing that the men weren't following her, she stopped and waited, impatiently tapping a foot.  
  
The men still just stood there and stared at the odd bundle of clothing. Shaking their heads in amazement at the sudden transformation from quiet and scared to a hyper bundle of energy.  
  
Fed up with waiting she asked in an extremely annoyed voice, "Well, are you coming or not?"  
  
Still shaking his head, Logan clapped his hand on Scott's shoulder. "Congratulations Cyke, it's a bouncing bundle of Canadian insanity." He chuckled and jogged up to the figure, through an arm around the taller figure's shoulder's saying, "Come on Darlin', lets go and get you cleaned up."  
  
Scott just sighed and followed thinking, "Wonderful, we have another Canadian at the institute, just what we needed."  
  
And oh, how true they were.  
  
TBC  
  
A/N: Well, that's it for another chapter. Next up, Jean meets Liz. DUN DUN DUN DUN, Will Jean like the guy's little surprise? Stay tuned for another chapter of A CANADIAN IN AMERICA. 


	4. In Which A Bath Is Taken and Logan Surpr...

A/N: Thank you very much to my first reviewer, Wolvster. You, and all of the other reviewers, make me feel so special (wipes away imaginary tear). This chapter is a tribute to my very first reviewer, and of course, all of the others.  
  
Chapter 4- In Which A Bath Is Taken and Logan Surprises Everyone  
  
When Jean woke up that morning, she received a rather rude awakening to a space in the bed where her husband was supposed to be. Spying a note on the pillow, she smiled and reached for it with her telekinesis. Reading it, she was shocked and then the warm fuzzies set in. "It's just like Scott to go and help another person in need, even if that person stole from him." She thought as she stretched and padded to the bathroom.  
  
Emerging from the bathroom half an hour later, casually dressed and without makeup because she was on vacation. She heard footsteps approaching outside the door and the sound of a room key being inserted into the slot and opening the bolt.  
  
Scott stepped into the room, followed by Logan and the bundle of clothing from the night before. Logan looked at her wryly and said, "Congratulations Jeanie, it's a girl."  
  
Hiding her startled reaction behind a mask of welcome, she extended her hand saying, "Hello."  
  
Liz was suddenly shy in front of the famous Phoenix of the X-Men. "Watson, Elizabeth Watson. Just call me Liz, please."  
  
Jean smiled and took her hand back and said, "Well, that was certainly an amazing display you put on for us last night. What are your other powers?"  
  
Liz started to relax under the thoughtful telepath's influence and began to become her normal, insane, self. "I can excrete a sticky mucous-like substance from my hands and feet that allows me to stick to surfaces, as long as my shoes are off of course. My legs and arms are longer and stronger than normal, and I am also a lot more flexible." She pulled off her backpack and bent over backwards, her hands grabbing her ankles. Everybody else winced and looked away as she straighted, a few vertebrae popping as she did so. Liz continued, a lot more shy than before, "I have had all of those, except for the mucous since birth, but those aren't my only powers, I have one more." Liz's hands crept up to her hood and pulled it away. Everybody gasped in shock, "I'm invisible too, and I can't turn back."  
  
Jean stepped forward and enveloped the scared young girl who was beginning to cry in a hug and let her cry on her shoulder. Logan and Scott were suddenly embarrassed and shuffled away, leaving the room and the two women to their business.  
  
After Liz was finished crying Jean, still maintaining her hold around Liz's shoulders guided her into the spacious bathroom saying, "Well, now, lets get you cleaned up now."  
  
******  
  
After ensconcing Liz in the bathtub with mounds of bubble bath, soap and shampoo. Jean left the room to see the state Liz's clothes were in, from her earlier glances, they were worn to the woof and long overdue for a washing. Picking up the hoodie that she had hid her head under, Jean shook her head and dropped it in disgust, working quickly, she packaged them all up into a trash bag and called for a bellboy to dispose of the rags. After listening to the caterwauling emerging from the bathroom, she also instructed the bellboy to bring up more soap, towels, and a pair of barber shears.  
  
*****  
  
"I'm singing in the bath, ouch, yes I'm singing in the bath, yipes."  
  
Liz's singing, which sounded more like an injured cat in heat, was often interrupted by exclamations of pain as her fingers encountered lots of matted knots in her extremely greasy hair. Her latest knot removal mission was interrupted by a knock on the door and the entrance of Jean with a pile of barbering equipment and soap.  
  
In a business like manner, Jean pushed the semi-visible hands away from the all too visible, soapy hair, and picking up the scissors, began to cut away at the long, matted hair, removing the worst of the knots and tangles.  
  
"I hope you don't mind me doing this, but believe me, you really need this."  
  
Relieved at the intervention, Liz's hands sank down under the water and she sighed, "Thank you so much. I've wanted to do this forever, but circumstances never let me. Do whatever you want with it, just don't shave me bald please."  
  
Agreeing quietly, Jean let the girl drift off to sleep and left her alone with her thoughts.  
  
Shaking her head quietly in sadness, Jean let clump after clump of hair fall into the towel under Liz's head, almost crying at the sad state it was in. Strands of hair fell away until all that was left was a short, almost boyish cut that could be easily spiked and styled.  
  
Reaching for the shampoo, Jean poured a large amount into her hands and massaged it into Liz's scalp, removing clumps of grease and dirt. The hair finally clean and knot free, Jean gently shook Liz awake, but all she did was mumble something along the lines of ".can't fall asleep, the Teletubbies will get me" and went back to sleep.  
  
Seeing that the poor girl was exhausted, Jean lifted her with telekinesis, dried her off and floated her to her bed to sleep. Twitching a blanket over the form, she left Liz to sleep as she tiptoed out the door.  
  
*****  
  
"Yes, professor, we are bringing her back to New York with us tomorrow. Yes, I will see you then. Goodbye."  
  
With that, Scott hung up the phone and turned to see Jean letting herself into the room and Logan nowhere in sight. "It's all settled," he told her, "Professor Xavier is giving Elizabeth a room in the mansion for her to stay in, she will be coming home with us tomorrow." Seeing Jean was upset, he opened his arms, and Jean rushed into them, almost crying.  
  
"Oh, Scott, that poor girl, I had to cut off almost all of her hair it was so matted and greasy. And the bathwater, it was black when I took her out of the bath, and she was so exhausted, she fell asleep as I cut her hair. And her clothes, oh her clothes, she doesn't have any more, I had to throw the others out they were so disgusting."  
  
"Actually Red, she does have clothes now," Logan had walked into the room carrying several shopping bags without them noticing and dropped them on the bed. "When I saw what that girl was wearing, I couldn't help myself, I kept thinking of Kitty and Jubilee, how much they have and how little she has, so I went out and bought a few things for her." Noticing the strange looks he was receiving, the mighty mans man Wolverine blushed. "What, it's not like I don't know what to do when buying girl's clothing and makeup, God knows I've followed Kitty and Jubilee around long enough. It was easy, I just gave the sales girl a list of what I needed in what sizes and she got them all for me."  
  
Opening the first bag, Jean found a pair of pajamas printed with maple leaves, jeans, a belt, a sleeveless turtleneck, a zip up hoodie and undergarments. In another bag, she found sneakers, gloves, washout hair dye and a pile of flesh-toned makeup. She looked up amazed at what Logan had done for the girl. "Logan, you thought of everything, how did you know."  
  
"Observation, she reeked to the high heavens, I couldn't even tell what gender she was until she spoke clearly, and her shoes had holes in them. I eyeballed her, she is just a little bit bigger than Kitty is, I gave the saleslady a size bigger than what Kitty gets, however the shoes and gloves are just a guess."  
  
Jean gathered the bags up and kissed him on the cheek, Scott, of course glared, and Jean left the room to wait for Liz to wake up.  
  
*****  
  
It was almost 4:30 in the afternoon before Liz finally woke up from her "nap". Blinking, she rose up on her elbows and looked at the clock. Blinking, now in shock more than anything, she collapsed and groaned, her arm coming up to cover her eyes.  
  
"How the heck did I get here, last time I checked, I was in the bath. Ah well, Jean's a telekinetic, she must of just lifted me here. Rolling out of bed with a sheet wrapped around her, she staggered around, regaining her coordination as she took stock of the room around her. "Nice place, far better than a cardboard box any day."  
  
Spotting the clothes draped on a nearby chair, she went over to them, and hesitantly picked them up, admiring the colors and the brand new-ness of them. "You can put them on Darlin', they won't bite you." Liz jumped in shock as Logan came up behind her, having heard her staggering around from the hallway. Silently, he called for Jean in his head and heard her response from the restaurant. "I'll leave you to it." He turned around and left to go and drink something.  
  
Cautiously, Liz started pulling them on, and was just finishing as Jean stepped into the room. "So I see you found the clothes Logan bought you.  
  
"Yeah, they fit alright." There was a bit of self conscious shuffling of the feet here, "But I can't really go out in public though, not like this." A shirt sleeve flashed through the air, gesturing towards where Liz's head would be, if they could still see it.  
  
"Not a problem." Jean gestured towards the bag, "Didn't you see what was in the bag?"  
  
"Naw.I didn't want to be snoopy. Once I looked into a bag not meant for me, and boy did I ever get a surprise. Not a nice one either." Liz laughed ruefully as air swished, showing that she was shaking her head, "I learned my lesson, though, no more peeking in bags not given to you."  
  
"Well, this bag is meant for you, go on, take a look inside."  
  
The bag rustled as she did so and a gasp emitted from her. Pulling out, "This is really meant for me?"  
  
"Yes it is, and I expect you to use it too."  
  
"Really, wow, I can actually see myself if I use it cool. But wait a minute, I don't know how to use makeup. I never really had a need to use it before, and then circumstances kind of decided for me."  
  
Jean gestured towards the bathroom, "Well there is no better time than the present."  
  
They trooped to the bathroom, and then had a ball making Gecko visible to the world once again.  
  
*****  
  
After half an hour of experimentation and trial and error, Liz's head was now fully visible, except for her eyes. A gloved hand tentatively went up to touch hers face.  
  
"Wow, I sure have changed, a few months on the street will sure do that to a girl." For Liz, once fully visible, was revealed to be gaunt cheeked with hunger and almost painfully skinny. "But there is still a slight problem," The hand now gestured towards her eye's, "People can see right through my head."  
  
"Hmmm.wait a minute, I've got an idea." Jean left the bathroom and started to rummage around in a duffel bag. Pulling something out, she returned and plopped something on Liz's nose.  
  
Startled, Liz looked in the mirror and saw a pair of ruby-red wraparound sunglasses. Puzzled, she looked at Jean.  
  
"They're Scott's backup pair, he always carries them around incase something happens to his first pair. He's not using them right now, so I don't see anything wrong with you using them."  
  
"They're perfect!" Liz jumped up and wrapped her arms around Jean in a big bear hug, her stomach growled, a long low sound ending in an abrupt high note.  
  
Both of them looked at her stomach in shock and laughed and headed down to meet Logan and Scott for dinner.  
  
TBC 


End file.
